Hollywood is PISSED. They HATE Redbox
. Why? Because they have the BALLS to be customers. They rent out movies to the customers at a buck a pop, and DARE to offer convenience to people. Hollywood HATES that. Warner Brothers hates Redbox so much that they even decided to sue Netflix for good measure.
If you’re in the Midwest like me, you’ve seen redboxes popping up everywhere: kiosks at seemingly every gas station, Kroger, where you can rent DVDs and Video games. Put your credit card in, mess with a touch screen (that is badly designed), and you get a movie for a buck. You don’t return it for a week? No biggie, you bought it. Simple, done.
Google does the opposite. They built a search business so cool, and allowed people to build businesses alongside it. Hell, they embraced it. Embraced the innovation, embraced Internet marketers, and are thrilled to write big-ass-checks to people.
Redbox basically says: “how ’bout a movie rental, maybe a video game with that gas fill up.” Cool. They buy the damn movies to rent out to people, so it all works. The studios have a big customer in Redbox.
The movie studios treat their customers badly. Been to a movie lately? Besides the overpriced concessions, you go in and are hypermonetized the entire time that you’re there. From when you show up to when you leave, you’re talked at and sold to. When I was a kid, I used to remember fondly going to the Piqua Twin Cinemas with my father, and talking before the start of movies like Ghostbusters or even The Untouchables. There was an event like silence in a partially darkened theater.
They made the experience of being a customer so horrid, and are somehow aghast when someone does it better. Think Blockbuster isn’t scared? They’ve gotta be. Go to rent a flick from Blockbuster. Sure, sure we get good selection. But you wait in a line a mile long that is deliberately slowed so you buy candy and magazines (at movie theater prices). You pay $4 bucks, feel screwed over. Redbox just gives you the damn movie. And they are beating down Blockbuster.
So, with that said, how do you redbox proof your business? How do you make it so that some nimble competitor can’t give you more:
- Be methodology neutral: if you’re in business providing widgets or knowledge, let the customer say how they want it. Hourly, subscription fees, whatever, all on the table. Don’t be obsessed with people doing things your way.
- Honor Your People: Hollywood and Starbucks lost their way when they monetized their traffic and started selling crap to people that were there for coffee or movies. Be nice, respect the intent of the customer. Getting coffee isn’t permission to sell them itunes crap.
- Embrace Partners that Distribute For you: Hollywood should be thrilled to have someone buying their content, and should make it really easy for them to do so and make money. So should you. Anyone that’s a potential partner should be honored. You should help them, high five them and invest in their success. (And even imitate them).
- Always get feedback, always make it easier: Blue ocean stuff here. Get customer feedback, collect data. When are customers happy?
- Focus on EASY TRANSACTIONS: How easy is it for a customer to do business with you? Focus on making it “dead simple.” Keep the experience brief, and don’t add clutter or “tack on sales” Be the best at say, selling coffee. Forget CDs and stuffed animals. Forget extended warranties. Or at least subordinate that to selling coffee and having a quiet “third place”.
What if Hollywood had said, “Kiosks? Cool. Let’s make some. Oh, and let’s make ‘em REALLY good. let’s charge $2 bucks, but let’s give MORE value for $2 bucks.”
[Unrelated [Note: This is the last post for a couple of weeks here GenuineChris.Com. I'm going to do a new home page that helps people figure me out and where I fit in. I'm focusing all of my stuff on two channels, and will be building up http://FlatRateWebJobs.Com as my new business identity. I'll have more in a bit. If anyone wants to guest post, please let me know so my 250 readers aren't left in the lurch]]
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